CONSERVATIVE candidate Dave Norman says he wants to champion new facilities for Kingsway if he wins retiring city councillor Fred Wood’s seat in May.

Mr Wood is stepping down from his role as a councillor for Quedgeley Fieldcourt and Mr Norman, who previously stood for the Grange and Kingsway ward in the Gloucestershire County Council elections last year, will take his place as the Conservative candidate.

Labour have announced their candidate will be Kevin Neal, who also lives locally and is an opponent of the incinerator plans.

Mr Wood, who enjoyed a 400-strong majority, was first elected in 2010. Living in Quedgeley since 1998, he is a former career soldier and a retired civil servant.

Mr Norman, who has lived in Quedgeley since 2007, said: “My daughters both live in Kingsway. I think I know the area very well. There are many issues facing young families.

“Kingsway does not yet have a good infrastructure.”

The former headteacher added: “Young families are having to drive off Kingsway to do the things that young people want to do.”

Mr Norman used to work in Cambridgeshire, where he says the local authority worked effectively with developers to construct a new community near the village of Werrington.

He said: “I believe the councils got it right because they are bringing in a new population but they were not just building new houses – the infrastructure was growing with it too.

“The development there is similar to Kingsway in some ways.

“We need to look at what is being provided and ask ourselves whether it is enough. I want to speak up for this.”

Comments

So what are Mr Noman's views on the incinerator then? is he just another Tory drone singing Hawthorne and Waddington's tune or has he actually got a brain of his own and will stand up for Quedgeley and Kingsway residents (the are seperate entities despite what people say) who DO NOT WANT the incinerator and speak out against it......... Over to you Mr Norman.